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Four local schools hailed for MCAS gains

By Chris Camire, ccamire@lowellsun.com

Updated:
09/20/2012 06:38:01 AM EDT

Four local schools were praised for high achievement in the latest round of MCAS results Wednesday, while a Lowell elementary school once tagged as one of the worst in the state continued to improve its scores.

The findings were part of the individual school and district MCAS scores for exams given in the spring of 2012.

Littleton Middle School, Day Elementary School in Westford, Lowell Community Charter School, and Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in Billerica were all recognized as commendation schools due to their impressive scores.

The Charlotte M. Murkland Elementary School in Lowell, meanwhile, saw its scores increase for the second straight year after it was graded "underperforming" in 2010. The school is one of 40 others in 12 districts to be slapped with a Level 4 label, a designation reserved for the lowest achieving schools in the state.

The Murkland is in the final year of a three-year improvement plan, after which its ranking can be upgraded. Since 2010, the Acre neighborhood school has seen the percentage of students who scored proficient or higher on the MCAS climb by 18 points in English and 13 points in math.

Last year, Gov. Deval Patrick chose to announce the MCAS scores at the Murkland to highlight reforms the school's administrators made to improve student performance there.

"Our growth has been such if you look at the other Level 4 schools in the state, the Murkland is one of highest areas of growth," said Lowell Superintendent of Schools Jean Franco.

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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School and the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School joined 15 other schools statewide in which 100 percent of 10th-graders scored at least "needs improvement"-- the state's minimum testing requirement to earn a high-school diploma -- in both English and math.

This year, 86 percent of Massachusetts sophomores met the state's minimum testing requirement to graduate after their first attempt, down from 87 percent last year. The MCAS test has four score levels: failing, needs improvement, proficient and advanced.

The percentage of students scoring at least proficient in English at the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School rose from 64 percent to 94 percent. The percentage of students scoring proficient or higher in math fell from 63 percent to 46 percent.

At Shawsheen, the percentage of students scoring at least proficient inched from 96 to 99 percent in English and 85 to 87 percent in math. In science, that number dipped by one point to 86 percent.

"When you look at the whole thing, these results are the best we have ever seen," said Charles Lyons, Shawsheen's superintendent. "It's a combination of extraordinarily talented teachers and goal-oriented students."

Scores at Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsboro also continued to improve. The percentage of students to score at least proficient climbed from 68 percent to 80 percent in English and 55 to 63 percent in math.

Still, the school is rated a Level 3 school, meaning it is among the lowest-performing 20 percent of schools in the state. Superintendent of Schools Mary Jo Santoro said the school's test scores reflect its demographics -- Greater Lowell Tech is one of the few technical schools in the state to accept students from the inner-city.

"We have to stay focused on our curriculum and our delivery of instruction, and we have to make sure we're delivering those high standards to all kids," said Santoro

The only other Level 3 school in the region is the Lakeview Junior High School in Dracut. Dracut Superintendent of Schools Steven Stone did not return multiple calls seeking comment for this story.

Schools are no longer required to ensure 100 percent of its students score "proficient" or higher on the MCAS exams by 2014, after the state received a waiver earlier this year from the stringent No Child Left Behind Act. Critics said the measurement lacked credibility, as more than 80 percent of the state's schools and more than 90 percent of districts missed proficiency targets last year.

Under the state's five-tiered educational accountability system, education officials can move to intervene in schools and districts that are under-performing.

"The state's flexibility waiver was an important change that allowed us to recognize improvement in student performance and growth over time where the federal (No Child Left Behind) system did not," said Mitchell Chester, the state's education commissioner. "Our state system establishes a high bar for performance while setting accountability goals that are attainable."

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